


half a mind

by ggwynbleidd



Series: stand by your man [2]
Category: Fallout (Video Games), Fallout: New Vegas
Genre: Guilty thoughts, M/M, Marriage Proposal
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-13
Updated: 2018-08-13
Packaged: 2019-06-26 16:53:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,500
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15667344
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ggwynbleidd/pseuds/ggwynbleidd
Summary: "if boone has half a mind, he'd marry that doctor man before he up and leaves"





	half a mind

When the thought first occurred to him, it came after a night of drinking beers and staring at the night sky from the cocktail lounge in the Lucky 38. Six had brought armfuls of blankets up and spread them on the floor with a declaration that they were going to celebrate. Celebrate what, nobody knew, most everyone appreciated it. Raul had retired earlier with his own bottle of rum that Six had saved just for him. Boone kept his lips pressed tightly together and against the opening of the beer bottle he had been nursing all night. His eyes drifted back and forth between everyone, eavesdropping on conversations as he did.

Arcade was leaning against one of the empty booths with his eyes half-closed and his face pink from sunburn and drink. His white teeth flashed as he smiled and talked to Veronica about some sort of minutiae about plasma rifle bits. They both talked with the gusto and intensity of two drunk people who had found a subject they really clicked about. As Boone watched Arcade, he felt a smile play on his lips and he sank onto his back to stare at the ceiling. Everything was right. Everything was just so for right now.

He wanted to marry Arcade.

The mirth of the evening suddenly soured in his stomach and his smile fell. It didn’t feel right again all of a sudden. Guilt gnawed at his mind and he felt his stomach curl up like a snake. He wasn’t sure what had gotten into him. The idea that he should have any kind of happiness after all of what he did. The idea that he should be allowed to move on after everything with Carla. After what he _did to_ Carla. Why should he be allowed anything resembling happiness? He didn’t.

Laying on his back and chewing his lip with nervousness, Boone sat and lingered on his thoughts. He rubbed his eyes with the heels of his palms. An urge to sleep swept over him but the alcohol (or who knows what) was whirling above him and he felt a hiccup rise in the back of his throat. He listened to the laughing and chatter around him to try and quell his darkened mood and to anchor his spinning head. It didn’t help. Not only was he lying there like a lump thinking about things he didn’t deserve, he was moping when he could be having a good time with friends.

Gentle ribbing from Cass brought Boone’s attention back to everyone and he grumped when he felt a boot dig into his calf. He lifted his hand with a half-hearted wave before hoisting himself on his elbows. He looked back at Arcade, who was furiously trying to clean his glasses, and smiled to himself. Cass threw back her head and laughed at something Six whispered about. Something Boone probably wouldn’t find funny even if he knew what it was. The group continued their talking even as conversations lulled and dipped and sentences rammed into each other and got lost.

Boone had gone back to staring at the ceiling when he felt an arm heft onto his chest and legs curl around him. He stirred from his half sleep to look at Arcade curling up next to him with rosy cheeks radiating warmth. He still had his glasses on. Boone reached out with thick fingers and shaking hand to remove them. Arcade grumbled something Boone couldn’t hear and buried his now bare face into Boone’s chest. Boone sighed to himself and wrapped his free arm around Arcade and closed his eyes again. Worries didn’t melt away, but things felt right.

The second time the thought occurred to him, Boone was pacing the kitchen of the Lucky 38 as sleeplessness gripped him. Word of Legion raids had reached the Strip and Boone knew one of the towns was where Six said she would be heading towards with Arcade. She had said they’d be back in fourteen days. It had been twenty-three. On day fifteen, Cass had stayed up until she couldn’t keep her eyes open. Day twenty, everyone was worried. Day twenty-three, Boone had chewed his nails until they bled and the skin around them frayed and cracked. The worst thoughts had seeped into his brain some time ago. He paced and prayed. Not again, not again.

The elevator doors opening made him turn on his heels in surprise and he felt his stomach drop out from under him. Boone stumbled into the hallway and felt his skin turn to gooseflesh. Cass and Six stood in the empty room embracing. Silent. The look on Six’s face was content but hollow with far-off and tearful eyes. Arcade stood with his hand on his neck awkwardly with his eyes on the floor. His hair was messy and his clothes were dusty and he had a bruise blossoming in purple and yellow on his cheek and arm. The two men stood and stared at each other before Boone was on him with tears of joy streaming down his face. Arcade smelled of dried sweat and fresh air and blood.

Boone decided that he had to marry Arcade.

Kisses rained down on Arcade’s face and Boone tried to lift him off the floor to swing him in a grand display. He grunted as Arcade’s large frame stayed rooted on the ground and both laughed. The two held their embrace as Six started to talk quickly, explaining what took them so long. They narrowly avoided the Legion multiple times. Assassins sent after her, tailing her, looking for her head to put at Caesar’s feet like loyal dogs. Boone felt his blood run cold as she talked about killing them and how they got plenty of injuries in turn. Arcade had to pick a bullet out of her arm and she showed the ugly blotch of skin and blood and gore proudly. Arcade looked at it with disgust, with embarrassment at his shoddy handiwork. It was do it quickly and leave a scar or else watch her bleed out and die.

Boone smiled when one of Arcade’s sturdy hands was set on Boone’s knee with a fond squeeze. He stayed quiet in his thoughts, listening to them talk with half-hearted interest. He put his hand on top of Arcade’s and watched Arcade’s eyebrows raise when his eyes fell on the bloody mess of Boone’s fingertips. He closed his eyes and leaned back as he listened to his three companions talk in hushed, worried tones about the encroaching Legion. It was a conversation he should have been a part of but he couldn’t find the strength to talk or listen. There was a worried tone in Cass’ voice. Disgust in Arcade. Fear in Six’s. Those encounters with the Legion were getting too close for comfort. Far too close. A battle was coming and everyone could feel it. He opened his mouth as he watched Cass and Six finally retire. His question died in his throat. It had to wait.

The third time, it came in a flash as Arcade shook him awake in the small hours of the morning. His eyes were blurred but he could see Six in the doorway with full armor and weapons at her back. They were already going somewhere, before the sun rose. Boone rubbed the sleep from his eyes as Arcade explained in a hushed whisper he had to go. He had to leave to help the fight, help the war, do something to help in some way. It was all too quiet and rushed for Boone to even understand. The war at the Dam was going to happen soon. Everyone could feel it. Everyone knew it. And Arcade said that he had to leave. Boone felt a tightness form in his chest and his hands darted out to grab Arcade’s arms in a moment of clarity. He couldn’t go. He couldn’t leave. Not again, not again.

“I have to marry you,” he blurted the words out before he could even think.

Arcade’s eyebrows looked like they were about to disappear into his hairline and Six’s serious and half-asleep face broke with a snorting laugh that made Veronica groan in her sleep. Heat began to creep across Boone’s cheeks and his eyes fell down into his lap. Arcade reached up and brought his face up. He was smiling. He kissed the top of Boone’s forehead and smoothed a hand over his stubbly face. He said that they would be back. He promised. They’d see each other at the Dam. Then they’d get married the very second that they could. Arcade and Six slunk out of the Lucky 38 with only the sound of the elevator doors to see them out. Boone sat up, fully awake, reaching for his pants folded neatly next to his bed. There was $10 NCR. Whether it would be enough for a marriage license and whether the NCR would still be around, Boone couldn’t tell. Maybe. Hopefully.


End file.
